Any former DDP users out there?

[TDC Nala]

I quit using DDP in 2008 after the program changed to include the deluxe dining plan. Prior to that, the appetizer and tips were included in what is now the regular dining plan for about $35-37 a night and it was kind of silly not to use it because major amounts of money could be saved no matter where you ate.

Now, I won't save much if anything, because without DDP I don't order the way the DDP requires ordering, and I seldom go to buffets and never character meals. I'm also only ordering and paying for one person. And I have TIW which is a better discount for me.

 

[mickey916]

We did the DDP in 2006, back when appetizer & tips were included and found it to be a great value (but way too much food). For our 2010 trip I was really nervous about going without the DDP but decided to go OOP and "budget" the amount we would have spent on the DDP as our food cost. I thought that way we might not worry about the prices as much if we knew we had "x" amount of dollars to spend. We ended up saving $345 from what we would have spent if we had done the DDP. We ate at 9 table service restaurants on our 10 day trip (we left early on day 10, so just had muffins in the room). We never felt deprived, we got dessert if we felt like it, or split one, or not. We ate the meals we wanted to eat and didn't overeat just to get our credits fulfilled (which isn't to say we never overate). I would never go back to the DDP.

 

[summermac]

TS ADRS so we are more able to 'graze' and 'sample'. . .

We like the convenience of having it all set and taken care of-----but it was just way too much food. . . We always left food and sometimes skipped the desserts all together . . .mostly, I was disappointed that with the timing of our meals (having planned them 180 days out and 'guessing' when we'd be hungry), we were never "hungry" or remotely interested in any of the snacks and specialty items that we could have sampled throughout the day. . .

I couldn't agree more with this statement. That's how we started feeling after the first couple of days with DDP. Another issue for us was being in a large group (6 adults/2 kids) made it difficult to plan meal times 180 days in advance too. At least one person at every TS meal wasn't hungry at the time we were eating. We actually tried to change on reservation day of because at 4:00 we just weren't hungry and had reservations for 5:15.

Excellent point! The only thing that stinks is thanks to DDP, it's darn near impossible (depending on the time of your trip) to walk up to a TS restaurant if that's what you want that day when you're hungry and get seated.

 

[lovin'fl]

I haven't read through this entire thread. Here's what we've done for DDP:
trip 1- 9/2003- Stayed off site...no DDP and ate off-site

trip 2- 3/2005- POR and DDP (was @ $37/day and included apps and covered tips...great deal...and our kids were 6,6, and 8...so they were like $10/day)

trip 3- 9/2006- BWV and DDP- 1st time using our DVC points...took my mom...still liked the DDP (kids were still kid prices)

trip 4- 1/2007- couple nights at the Contemp (DH had seminar there for work)-no DDP, paid OOP...then 3 nights at SSR with DDP...MIL and FIL were also at SSR (for a week with the DDP). DS turned 10 a couple days after this trip, so we squeezed out one last trip paying kid prices for him. Still like the DDP. We did the Concourse Steakhouse, HDDR, the Luau, LTT and Olivias.

trip 5- 7/2008- 4 nights at BWV and then 5 nights at VWL...with SIL and her family of 5...all on DDP...DS was now adult prices and at this point tips and apps weren't included anymore and the cost was in the 40s. We still liked DDP somewhat, but were beginning to become disenchanted. We had deluxe DDP for the 5 nights at VWL and realized that was too much food...too much time spent eating...too much $$$ and we'd never do it again.

trip 6- 7/2009- 5 nights at HHI and then 3 nights at OKW (no WDW parks this trip, so no DDP) we spent 1 day at SeaWorld and 1 day at Downtown Disney. We ate at Cape May, Ohana and T-Rex and paid OOP.

trip 7- 7/2011- week off-site...for DDs softball World Series...got annual passes since we'd be going back in Dec. Spent 2 days in the parks and went another day for a quick visit and to eat at Biergarten...paid OOP.

Next trip #8- Dec...6 nights at OKW with DH's entire family...no DDP, but will get TIW card. Have TS dinner or lunch booked for every day (LTT, HDDR, Bongos, Ohana, Biergarten and Rose and Crown). Have 1 breakfast at Olivias booked also.

Since we stay in DVC villas, we get in groceries for breakfast and do 1 CS and 1 TS per day for lunch and dinner. We found that TS lunches work better for us and are cheaper when paying OOP. When we really began to give the DDP some thought, back in 2008, we did some calculations and realized that we'd have to do all-you-can eat or character meals or choose the most expensive entres to break even on the DDP. Maybe we could even save a few bucks, but we wouldn't save a significant amount. And we didn't always want to order the most expensive entre or always get a dessert and we like to get adult beverages and/or water with our TS meals. Sometimes we just like to order apps and no entres. My inlaws don't like DDP anymore either because they like apps and entres but no desserts or snacks.

 

[AirGoofy]

We have done the DDP for the last 4 trips and have generally enjoyed it. By day 3 or 4, we are enjoying TS meals but feeling a bit overboard by all of the food and not enjoying desserts as much as we did at the beginning of the trip. For our next trip, I am wondering if we should forgo the dining plan. We are not annual passholders so we will not have a TiW card, but I think we would still eat a TS meal every day, with 2 or so being character meals over the course of the week.

If you used to do the dining plan and do not now, do you find yourself looking at prices more? Did you still do a TS meal daily? Did you calculate the costs of DDP versus paying out of pocket? Are you glad you've changed?

My TR is in signature, but we no longer do DDP. We are happy that we don't. We've tried DDP and DxDP and found that OOP is cheaper for us with our dining patterns. The DxDP was too much food and money, and the DP was not enough TS. We tend to split QS meals on the go, but enjoy the family time of a TS. We usually eat one TS per day, but like being able to order an appetizer as opposed to 4 desserts. If you calculate item per item cost, then DP is cheaper. But, if you would normally not order dessert and prefer one later in the parks, then you can't do that on DP. Plus, we like eating when and where we want. We are also DVC members, and will eat breakfast in room unless we are going to park that day.

 

[SnowWitch]

$52 per day, seriously? We are DVC members and AP holders. We have done the DDP or the DXDP many times over the last many trips. We booked a last minute trip in September and paid out of pocket. We came out a few hundred dollars cheaper going out of pocket. So we are in the OOP camp from here on out. When we travel our group is 3 Disney adults and 2 kiddos at the 2012 price it would cost us $186 per day for the regular plan. No thanks Disney.

 

[librarygeek]

We won't be using the DDP on our next trip simply because we won't have a choice - we are staying off-site. But that being said, even if we were on property I'm not sure we would use it. We got it free last time so obviously that was worth it, but I just can't eat that much, even with the regular dining plan. I have a tiny stomach! Dessert at every meal was kind of overkill for me. I think we would definitely share some CS lunches too, as some of those were pretty big for me, and I'd rather have a small lunch and be able to try some of the yummy snacks around the parks. Also, sometimes we might like to just do a few apps for dinner instead of a typical entree.

The one downside is that I do tend to be a very money conscious person so I will probably be looking at prices a bit more. I'm hoping to over-budget for food in my personal budget so that I have something to work with and don't feel restricted though.

 

[heatherbabydoll1]

My main thing is the variety. My family is horrible with money. I love the dinning plan and usually get the deluxe mainly to try new things. We love signature resturants and shows. In general there we don't eat alot of counter service. Plus with us just becoming DVC owners there is more TS availability than CS.
I really miss the app. and tips. I hate putting up more money just for tips, but at the same time I like that a waiter or waitress needs to earn a tip. I worked in the food industry and I felt that being tipped for my good service was worth me working hard and if I was having a bad day my tips showed it. Many times I have had bad service and I don't leave 18%. 1900 park fare and crystal palace to name a few. I had to chase down people for drinks and charatcters. Then it is buffet which means I serve myself. Now on the same token I have given a way above 20% at others. Cali Grill a great example waiter took his time to spread out our meal to time fireworks right at dessert, never had below half on glasses and was attentive without being over bearing.

The money part because we plan so far in advance we pay throughout the year. If we were to save for dinning also something would come up and we would have to cut back to cover something.

I love the dinning plan mainly for the all inclusive trip feeling of not worring about anything!

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

We used to love the dining plan - it was so easy (especially our first trip when tip and app was included) - no calculating no worrying about how much things were.

We tended to do the "free" dining when the regular dining plan was offered at the value resorts for us that was the best value.

Then two things happened. One they switched to the QS for values (you could pay extra to get the regular dining plan) and secondly we bought APs and wanted to do a couple of trips "on the cheap".

That's when we discovered the ease of eating only QS (and if you check into it there are tons of good places to eat not just the burgers/ chicken) - no TS ADRs to make / keep and no tips. And once I sat down and calculated with the menus in front of me I easily came up with a budget of $50 / day for all 3 of us which is significantly less than their QS dining plan. For us it works out beautifully.

 

[disney212]

If just DH & I then OOP if we have our 2 kids (college students) with us then DDP, we tried both ways and even with the DDP the run us out of credits. Mind you both are tall and very skinny, no idea where they put it!

 

[mindyd]

We used the dining plan but now my kids are considered adult and never ordered the desserts. I go on All Ears look at where we are eating take a guess of what we will eat and add drinks and everything to it. I also go and look at two counter places and multiply the higher number by how many times we will eat counter service. Then I add a extra one hundred dollars just in case. The meals normally always come out to less or even then I planned and the extra 100 covers any snacks etc we want. I always have extra just in case but this has worked well the past two trips for us.